Myers Weekly Prayer Letter

The temperatures continue to be quite warm in our area of Swaziland but we did receive a couple of thundershowers this week that helped to provide a little relief.  Rain is still needed for the farmers to plant their crops and gardens.  Please pray the rains will come and provide the moisture that will enable crops/gardens to grow and river/streams to fill.

The date for the Mgamudze Ladies’ Retreat that was scheduled for November 18-19 and then November 25-26 has now been scheduled to begin today.  I received word on Saturday (12th of November) that the retreat could not take place the last weekend.  So the pastor decided to have the retreat today and tomorrow (18-19 of November).  He also told me he invited the ladies from the New Hope Baptist Church to join us as a well as a few from the community.   Pray the church will be adequately prepared for the event as well as myself.  With the news of New Hope joining us and possibly a couple from the community, I quickly prepared more teaching materials.  Please pray the ladies will plan to be on time and attend every session.  May we receive wonderful blessings from the Lord!!  

THANKSGIVNG DAY-November 24, 2011.  The Swazi Team will celebrate Thanksgiving Day at the Allens in Mbabane.  Pray for a wonderful day of celebration and Thanksgiving!!   
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.  His love endures forever.  Give thanks to the God of gods.  His love endures forever.  Give thanks to the Lord of Lords: His Love endures forever.  Psalm 136:1-3

--Sunday November 27th is the tentative date for baptismal service at the Luhhwahhweni Baptist Church.  Pray for this church as they celebrate through this baptismal service.  Pray these new believers will totally serve the Lord and will be wonderful witnesses in the community of Luhhwahhweni.

The Hands On missionaries’ time of ministry in Swaziland is coming to an end.   In June they began their 6 month term that will end on the 8th of December when they depart for Jo’burg for a week of debriefing before returning to the states.  It has been a wonderful 6 months for the Swazi Team and hopefully for these missionaries.  Wayne and I know the Mafucula and Vuvulane Baptist Churches and communities will be very sad to say goodbye to Brandi and Kim.  Plans for a farewell service combining the two churches has been planned for the 4th of December.  The Swazi Team will also say thank you to the “girls” on the 2nd of December with a trip to the Swazi Candle Factory.  Pray for Sienna, Heather, Brandi and Kim as their work in Swaziland slowly comes to an end.  Pray for a great feeling of accomplishment as they prepare to return to the states.

Stories of their work in Swaziland will appear on http://www.africastories.org/ the first appearing on the 30th of November.  Swaziland will also be featured for the World AIDS Day emphasis December 1st.

The Swazi Team’s end-of-the-year retreat is scheduled for December 12-15 at the Buckleigh Guest House in North Durban.  In the past, the time has enabled the Team to not only have great fellowship together, but also praise the Lord for His blessings the past year and a time of prayer for future work.  Pray for the Team as we begin to prepare for this special event with hopes that it will  provide renewal and encouragement. 

UPDATE:  In September 23rd’ prayer letter we asked you to pray for Sphesile Msibi (wife of pastor of Mgamudze Baptist Church) who had suffered a stroke.  We are happy to say she is doing very well.  The family thanks everyone for praying!!

CHECK OUT THIS WEBSITE:
“2 Oceans Cluster” http://www.2oceanscluster.com/ and click on “Town/Village/Rural and then click on Swazi Team

Lottie Moon destined to become a legend among Southern Baptists, was one of the earliest single women appointed by the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board).  Harriet Baker was the first, in 1849, but her career was brief, and she “served to confirm the board’s opinion that single women were not suited for foreign missionary service.”  Finally, with a change in policy in 1872, Edmonia Moon was appointed to China.  The following year, on July 7, 1873, Lottie Moon, Edmonia’s sister, was officially appointed by the Foreign Mission Board meeting in Richmond, Va. 
Arriving in China, Lottie immediately enveloped herself in love for, and work with, the Chinese people.  She wrote many challenging, chiding letters to Henry A. Tupper, corresponding secretary of the FMB and her trusted friend, asking Southern Baptists for helpers, money and prayers for the sake of the gospel and the people of China.  She described the massive numbers of lost souls around here in  the Shantung Province. “Thirty million lost people,” she wrote in one of her letters, “yet the one million Southern Baptists at home can barely muster enough through their giving to send only three women and one man to win all of those people to the Lord.  I don’t know how that looks in heaven, but it certainly looks peculiar in China.” (From the book The Life that Prays by Minette Drumwright)

Your church’s involvement in the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering provides for your IMB missionaries’ day-to-day needs.  Because you give sacrificially, your missionaries can spend their time reaching lost people instead of raising support.  The offering comprises 53 percent of the IMB’s total income, and every penny goes to missionaries and their ministries.  Please support and give to the 2011 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering so missionaries can continue the “Great Commission” calling to go, teach and baptize in the uttermost parts of the world.   Lottie Moon Offering Goal;  $175 million  www.imb.org/offering